Cognitive test battery for evaluating elderly Chinese Americans.

This study aimed to determine the diagnostic utility of a Chinese test battery for evaluating cognitive loss in elderly Chinese Americans. Data from a pilot study at the Mount Sinai Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center was examined. All participants were > 65 years old, primarily Chinese speaking, with adequate sensorimotor capacity to complete cognitive tests. A research diagnosis of normal mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or Alzheimer’s disease (AD) was assigned to each participant in consensus conference. Composite scores were created to summarize test performance on overall cognition, memory, attention executive function, and language. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to assess the sensitivity of each cognitive domain for discriminating three diagnostic categories. Adjustment was made for demographic variables (i.e., age, gender, education, primary language, and years living in the USA). The sample included 67 normal, 37 MCI, and 12 AD participants. Performance in overall cognition, memory, and attention executive function was significantly worse in AD than in MCI, and performance in MCI was worse than in normal controls. Language performance followed a similar pattern, but differences did not achieve statistical significance among the three diagnostic groups. This study highlights the need for cognitive assessment in elderly Chinese immigrants.

本研究旨在确定一套中文测试组合在评估华裔美国老年人认知缺失方面的诊断效用。 对西奈山阿尔茨海默病研究中心一项试点研究的数据进行了检查。所有参与者年龄均>65岁，主要讲中文，具备足够的感觉运动能力来完成认知测试。在共识会议上，给每位参与者确定了正常、轻度认知障碍（MCI）或阿尔茨海默病（AD）的研究诊断。创建了综合分数来总结在整体认知、记忆、注意力执行功能和语言方面的测试表现。采用多变量逻辑回归模型来评估每个认知领域区分三种诊断类别的敏感性。对人口统计学变量（即年龄、性别、教育程度、母语和在美国居住的年限）进行了调整。 样本包括67名正常参与者、37名MCI患者和12名AD患者。AD患者在整体认知、记忆和注意力执行功能方面的表现明显比MCI患者差，MCI患者的表现比正常对照组差。语言表现呈现出类似模式，但在三个诊断组之间差异未达到统计学意义。 本研究强调了对老年华裔移民进行认知评估的必要性。